Three Musketeers Hit 20 Points to Propel No. 6/5 Xavier Past Marquette

Saturday, February 6

Cincinnati, Ohio

12 P.M.

Xavier University

21-2, 9-2

Marquette University

15-9, 4-7

Marquette

Xavier

Three Musketeers Hit 20 Points to Propel No. 6/5 Xavier Past Marquette

02.06.16 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Musketeers shoot 65 percent on threes after going 7-of-10 from behind the arc in second half

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI – Trevon Bluiett, Edmond Sumner and J.P. Macura all hit the 20-point mark to help the No. 6/5 Musketeers top a hot-shooting Marquette team, 90-82.

The trio's performance marks the first time three players Xavier players have posted at least 20 points in a game since Jamel McLean, Mark Lyons and Tu Holloway each posted 20-point games against Wofford on Nov. 27, 2010. The win moved the Musketeers to 21-2 overall and 9-2 in BIG EAST play in front of a sell-out crowd at Cintas Center

Bluiett finished with a game-high 23 points after going 4-of-4 from the line in the closing seconds of the game to seal the win for the Musketeers. Bluiett also dished out a career-high eight assists.

Macura totaled a career-high 20 points after scoring 15 points on 100-percent shooting from the floor in the second half.

Sumner also finished with 20 points after leading Xavier in the first half with 15 points.

Myles Davis also hit double-figures, finishing with 11 after scoring nine in the second half.

The Golden Eagles opened the game 4-of-6 from the floor, taking a 9-5 lead four minutes into the game.

A pair of dunks followed by a three totaled a personal 7-0 run for Sumner, erasing the MU lead for the first Xavier lead, 12-9, at the 15 minute mark.
The 7-0 run by Sumner turned into a 14-3 run for the Musketeers, giving XU a seven-point advantage, 19-12, its largest lead of the first half.

Xavier used 8-of-16 shooting from the floor to build the lead in the first eight minutes, including hitting 75 percent from beyond the arc.

The Golden Eagles responded with a 17-1 run, holding Xavier scoreless from the floor for over four minutes to take a 29-20 lead with 8:39 left in the first half.

A Sumner three ended the MU run and brought his point total to 10 points in his first 10 minutes of time on the floor. Xavier chipped away at the Golden Eagle lead, and an 8-3 run cut the MU lead down to two, 37-35, with 2:29 remaining before the break before going into halftime trailing 39-35.

Sumner shot 6-of-9 from the floor in the first half, including hitting 75 percent from three, to take a game-high 15 points into the break. Bluiett added nine points in the first half on 3-of-4 shooting from outside.

The Musketeers overall shot 60 percent from beyond the arc, but the Golden Eagles hit over 56 percent from the floor, including 62.5 from three to build its halftime advantage.

Marquette owned an 18-13 advantage on the boards in the first half.

Xavier opened the second half 4-of-6 from the floor to tie the game at 45 three minutes into the period.

MU's Henry Ellenson posted 10 points in the first 12 minutes of the second half to help the Golden Eagles retake the lead, pushing its advantage out to as many seven, 61-54, with 9:43 remaining in the game.

A three from Kaiser Gates cut the lead down to four and started an 11-2 run to give Xavier its first lead of the second half, 65-63, with seven minutes to play.

Xavier extended its lead out to as many as five, 72-67, with five minutes remaining in the game.

A 5-0 run would tie the game up at 72 with three minutes remaining before a 10-2 run for the Musketeers gave Xavier its largest lead of the game at eight, 85-77, with 36 seconds to play.

A pair of Marquette buckets cut the Xavier lead down to four in the final seconds of the game, but Bluiett went 4-of-4 at the free throw line to match the Musketeers' largest lead of the game at the buzzer, 90-82.

The Musketeers finished the game shooting 65 percent from outside the arc, including hitting on 7-of-10 from three in the second half.

Marquette made the most of Xavier's few misses by limited the Musketeers' second chance opportunities, out-rebounding the Musketeers, 35-27, including a 26-18 advantage on the defensive glass.

MU turned the ball over 20 times to just nine miscues for Xavier, leading to a 22-9 advantage on points off turnovers for the Musketeers.

Marquette's Ellenson finished with a team-high 22 points. Haanif Cheatham finished with 21 for the Golden Eagles.

Xavier returns to the road for its next matchup, heading to Creighton on Tuesday, Feb. 9. The Musketeers and the Bluejays are set to tip at 8:00 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network.